A solar installer has been convicted and fined $40,000 after a worker was injured when they fell about 10m through an asbestos roof in Victoria’s south-west.

Sams Solar was sentenced in the Portland Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 10 September after pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to provide and maintain a safe workplace.

The company was also ordered to pay $6,026 in costs.

WorkSafe health and safety executive director Sam Jenkin says a worker had been left with painful injuries in an incident that could have easily ended in tragedy.

“Falls from height remain one of the biggest killers on Victorian worksites and it is frustrating to see employers continue to put workers in situations where they are at serious risk of harm,” Sam says.

“As highlighted in this case, safety harnesses come with their own hazards and should only be considered in instances where greater risk control measures cannot be used.”

To prevent falls from height employers should implement the highest possible measures from the five levels in the hierarchy of controls:

• Level 1: Eliminate the risk by, where practicable, doing all or some of the work on the ground or from a solid construction
• Level 2: Use a passive fall prevention device such as scaffolds, perimeter screens, guardrails, safety mesh or elevating work platforms
• Level 3: Use a positioning system, such as a travel-restraint system, to ensure employees work within a safe area
• Level 4: Use a fall arrest system, such as a harness, catch platform or safety nets, to limit the risk of injuries in the event of a fall
• Level 5: Use a fixed or portable ladder or implement administrative controls

When undertaking high-risk construction work (HRCW), duty holders must ensure HRCW is not performed unless a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) is prepared and ensure that, once a SWMS has been developed, all HRCW work is undertaken in accordance with that SWMS.

They also need to stop work immediately, or as soon as it is safe to do so once they become aware a SWMS is not being followed, review the SWMS whenever there is a change in the work being undertaken or if there is an indication that control measures are not adequate and that a copy of the SWMS be retained for the duration of any HRCW.